Cardiac Kingdom, A NintendoSquaresoft crossover
by LaZ Teenager
Summary: A re-imagining of Kingdom Hearts if it was developed by Nintendo and Squaresoft.
1. The Very Boring Intro

Well...

**[text box]**

**[color]highlighted words[end color]**

**[selected thing 1]  
thing 2  
**unusable thing 3

(Play _"game title – song title"_)

_~onomatopoeia~_

Yeah.

* * *

_Cardiac Kingdom (A Nintendo/Squaresoft crossover) Part 1: The (Very Boring) Intro_

Over a black background, that familiar red logo everyone knows to be **(Nintendo)** appears.

The logo fades and is replaced with the word _**SQU▲RESOFT**_.

Some other company name comes up, but by this point I've stopped paying attention to the legal crap.

...

Start start start start start start start start, YES!

(Play _"LED Storm(ZX Spectrum) - Intro"_)

The title screen finally comes up, showing on the right side the image of a young man with brown spiky hair, brown eyes, a large chin and a toned muscular build. He's wearing a red shirt with rolled-up sleeves, brown work boots, a pair of white safety gloves, and a pair of blue work pants held up by a pair of blue suspenders that use two bright yellow clips on the front. On his neck is a chain necklace with a little silver compass for a pendant. In his right hand, he is holding a sledge hammer. So, overall, he looks like hes part of a construct crew. At the bottom of the screen, the words **©2002 Nintendo** appear, with a flashing **PRESS START **over it for good measure. On the left side of the screen is the games logo: a light blue heart with a bunch of keyholes on it, the words _**"Cardiac Kingdom" **_in the center of it, and the company logos in small print above it. I press **START**.

**[NEW GAME]  
LOAD  
OPTIONS**

**Difficulty:****  
Easy  
****[Normal]  
Hard**

Yeah, I _totally_ want to play easy mode first. Not! The game would probably just make fun of me for doing it anyway.

**Name: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

My name? I don't think I've seen a sixth-generation game ask me for my name before. I think the last time I did was for _Majora's Mask_. Man, I should play through that game again.

**Name: Chris Melton . . .**

**[OK]**

**[Difficulty: Hard  
Name: Chris Melton  
Proceed?]**

Now to wait for this music to finish its loop.

…

**[Yes] No**

The screen fades.

(Play _"Solstice(NES) - Title Theme"_)

As the music slowly fills the room, **(Nintendo)** appears on the black screen yet again. The logo then morphs into _**SQU▲RESOFT**_. I feel nostalgic.

Suddenly, the music becomes awesome. The Cardiac Kingdom logo appears on screen with a flash. I am somewhat amazed.

As the rockin' song continues, the game shows a montage (through **FMV!**) of what seem to be various points in that spiky-haired guy's life. Scenes of him growing up and playing with some other kids on a beach, going to school, working in some sort of shop; that type of stuff. Three other people also appear prominently: some red-haired girl, another brown-haired guy, and a silver-haired guy. Curiously, the silver-haired guy seems to replace the brown-haired guy in the middle of the montage. Hm... Oh, whatever, the game'll answer that later.

The song nears its end, and the montage does as well. The two final spots in the montage seem to hold some significance, instead of being just a mood setter. The first is an image of the three people working on what looks like a mostly-finished boat inside of a workshop, and the second is an image of a circular surface. It depicts a women who... well, I would describe her appearance, but really, its not necessary. It's Princess Peach, with her many Toad servants surrounding her.

The AMV ends, and the graphics become cheaper, yet the image stays on screen. Turns out, its a piece of scenery. Specifically, its a platform made of stained glass or something.

(Play _"Ghouls N' Ghosts(Amiga) – Level 1"_)

As some haunting music plays, and the camera moves closer to the glass, I can see that the spiky-haired guy is face-down on top of it. Except here, he is wearing some white pajamas with a blue wavy pattern on it, and his hair isn't spiky right now; instead, its more of a bedhead.

The man starts to get up, rubbing his forehead as he does. He looks confused. I probably would be too if I woke up somewhere in my pajamas that wasn't my bed. Actually, I wouldn't, because I would be dreaming, and I don't wear pajamas anyway.

As the man looks around, a voice in his head (I think) begins speaking to him.

**"Pick a weapon."**

A podium appears on one side of the platform. On it is a sword in a scabbard.

**"Any weapon."**

Another podium appears, this time with a shield on it.

**"It doesn't matter which."**

A third podium appeared, with a bow and quiver on it.

**"But choose carefully. Your decision will affect your entire journey."**

Okay, so I get to choose my specialty. Awesome. I don't know why the voice just contradicted itself, but whatever. I pretty much made my decision before I even started the game, but first, I shall humor the game. I first move over to the bow. I press **(B)Examine**.

The screen switches to a different angle, with the guy examining the bow and quiver in his hands. A bar of text appears on the bottom half of the screen that reads thusly:

**[On the podium was a {green}green bow and quiver{end green}. This might help you to {green}become a better marksman{end green}.**

**Will you take this?]**

Well, marksmanship does sound good. Then again, if I do end up getting guns later, I bet I'll just end up collecting ammo that I'll be too afraid to use, and have melee weapons that are artificially weaker, so...

**Yes [No]**

Continuing on, I move over to the shield. **(B)Examine **and all that jazz.

**[A {blue}blue shield{end blue} rested on the podium. With this, you should be able to {blue}learn magic abilities{end blue}.**

**Will you take this?]**

With a shield? Forget it, I don't like using magic in RPGs anyway.

**Yes [No]**

Okay, now I get the sword. **(B)Examine**

**[There was a {red}sword in a red scabbard{end red} on the podium. You might {red}gain more strength{end red} if you use this.**

**Will you take this?]**

Now we're talkin', game!

**[Yes] No**

Something happens. The glass begins to crack under the man's feet. In seconds, the glass gives in, causing him to fall into the endless abyss.

…Or onto another platform. This time, it has Princess Daisy on it, with what looks to be a desert behind her. The man gets up, using the sword to help lift himself. He looks around for a second.

**"You need to be ready to fight them."**

As soon as that was said, six pools of darkness appeared around him. Each one starts to rise up and turn into humanoid, and somewhat terrifying, creatures.

These creatures look interesting at the very least. They're completely black, except for a pairs of yellow glowing eyes, with sharp claws, sharp teeth, or more accurately, sharp lips, and most horrifyingly, black pulsating hearts on their chests, seemingly held there by several thick arteries.

The man unsheathes his sword quickly and gets into a fighting position.

**"Will you be ready?"**

A lifebar and some other stuff appear at the top-left of the screen. Over the bar was the name **SAVERIO **in capital letters. Hm, must be Spanish or something.

Anyway, an easy battle follows, as is usual with tutorial battles. I just hack and slash, hack and slash, hack and slash, and they all fade away. I even get a free level up.

**[Level up! Saverio] **_~Sparkle~_

With the bodies of his enemies now suspiciously littering the floor, Saverio puts his sword back in its sheath.

**"You fight well."**

The bodies start to sink down and turn into darkness once more. The darkness start to form into one big puddle of darkness, and some black smoke rises out of it. The puddle moves under Saverio.

…Oh boy.

Saverio suddenly starts sinking quickly until he seems to fall out the other side and begins to fall into the abyss. For about five seconds, the screen was just him and the darkness.

...Then he falls onto another platform. He manages to land on his feet somehow, albeit a bit shakily. Because of dream logic, he doesn't even crack the platform, which has the image of... Pauline from _Donkey Kong_? Odd, its normally just royalty that shows up on stained glass.

At the center of the platform is a chest, no doubt holding some useful item. Off to the side though, is a chair. A simple, red armchair. As I'm sure anyone would agree, the ability to sit in a video game is just incredible, more so than any chest could be (and that includes chests containing elixirs and the kind girls have), so I go to the chair first.

I press **(B)Sit**, causing Saverio to sit in it, put his sword on his lap, rest his left elbow on the arm, and put his left hand on his face, rubbing it slowly. Hes stressin', I guess. He Doesn't have to worry though, because now his healthbar is filled back up! The screen turns a few shades darker.

**[Slot 1]**  
Slot 2

Oh, its a save too.

**[File 1] File 2 File 3 File 4  
**

**[Yes] No**

**Saving data. Do not remove the memory card(16Mb) or shut off the Gamecube™.**

I wonder if I should have researched this game more before I bought it?**  
**

**7/16/2006 4:26 pm****  
Chris Melton Lvl.02  
00:13 The Beginning**

Time to continue.

I move up to the chest and press **(B)Open**. A cutscene starts to show Saverio opening the chest and...

**[Gained a {red}●Potion{end red}] **_~ching~_

A cheap looking wooden arched door appears near the edge of the platform with a lazily painted bullseye on it. How inelegant.

**"Now move forward."**

Needing no other instructions, Saverio walks up to it and tries the doorknob first, but it doesn't work, so he pulls out his sword and starts hitting it. It does not break. Typical.

**"Use this."**

A crate appears at a complete and totally convenient time.

I walk over to the crate and press **(B)Pick up**. As expected, Saverio picks it up, over his head, in fact, and I carry it over to the door and press **(A)Throw**. Saverio throws it right into the bullseye, causing the crate to explode into little wooden pieces, and the door to... slowly creak open, like it was just the wind that blew it open. Lame.

_~fanfare~_

Oh, shut up.

Behind the door is a set of floating stained glass steps leading to another platform. A quick look reveals its not there when you look around the door. I'm sure there's a term for that, but I can't think of it right now.

I start going up the steps, thinking that there's a boss or, at the least, a stronger mook, at the top. I hope so, 'cause this introductory level is starting to get really boring.

When I get to the top, a cutscene starts. I get a good look at the platform, which has the image of... some red fairies that I don't recognize. How fun. Saverio looks around for anything dangerous.

**"It's coming."**

He looks behind himself quickly, stepping back for precaution, only to find nothing. Then he and the camera look down at his shadow, which I just noticed is round, still where he was a moment ago, not connected to him. It begins to grow bigger and start rising from the ground. Saverio quickly pulls out his sword. Now fully solid, the shadow looks like the silhouette of a... giant ant. You know, obviously. A long green lifebar appears at the top of the screen, with the name **"GIANT ANT?" **over it, like its not clearly a giant ant, and one small green square under it, no doubt indicating that it has two lifebars.

I take the first swing at its head, but it blocks it rather easily. So much for the head being the weak point. I circle around it and hit it from behind, but to no avail. Suddenly, the ant flips around a full 180 degrees, trapping Saverio in its giant mandibles, causing him to yell in pain, and me to start rapidly pressing buttons. It ends up cutting a quarter of my life off with that attack.

Choosing a different tactic, I decide to try jumping on top of it. Finding that its back is foot-worthy, I quickly find what appears to be a purple vain running along its back. I start mashing **(A)** as fast as possible, the ants HP going down quickly as I do. The ant is of course not pleased with this, but seems to be too lazy or fat or stupid to shake me off, so it decides to summon some other smaller ants to stop me. They are dealt with quickly. when I bring its HP down to 0, it crumples to the ground like the pathetically easy boss it is. A prompt appears on screen.

**(B)Finish**

Not missing the opportunity, Saverio flips his sword in hand and drives it into the weird vein thing, causing the beast to scream. He seems to say something, but I can't hear it. I would say it is a fitting end if it wasn't so easy.

…Then, suddenly, the ant starts to melt into the ground like the shadows before him. Saverio, unfortunately, is right in the middle of this, and to make matters worse, his sword is stuck in the ant's back. With him desperately trying to get his only weapon out, it isn't long before he is pulled into the darkness along with it. As he sinks, the only thing he can do is raise his hand in the air, until that is all that I can see of him. The voice decides to get one last word in.

**"The Darkness is coming."**

With no chance of help, the screen starts to fill with darkness. With the sound of a beeping noise fading in and the music slowly fading out, it seems that this part of the game is over.

_Finally!_

* * *

And chapter 1 is done! ...I actually don't know what to say here. Except maybe to ask for reviews. And to please spell correctly. I guess I'll see you in a few weeks. Maybe. Possibly. I don't know.

Later.

**Wordcount: 2,804  
Last updated: 4/2/11  
**


	2. The Ironic First Town

This took _way_ longer than intended.

...Shit.

**Name  
[**"Dialog box"**]**

**[**Saverio's thoughts/text box**]**

**[logo appearance]world title[more logo appearance]**

* * *

_Cardiac Kingdom (A Nintendo/Squaresoft crossover) Part 2: The (Ironic) First Town_

_~BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP~_

As things start to fade back, I find out that the beeping noise is coming from an alarm clock. Instead of being on another platform, Saverio is lying in bed, presumably in his bedroom. Saverio sits up, rubs his eyes, and switches off the alarm.

I hear a groan on Saverio's left side. As I hadn't notice eight seconds ago, there is someone else in the bed. A woman with blue eyes, short red hair, and is wearing a set of red-dotted pajamas. She also sits up in bed, rubbing her eyes.

"Morning." she says in a groggy voice. She then lies back in bed. "You can get dressed first. I'll wait."

Saverio turns out of bed and gets up. The cutscene ends and I'm given control again. I walk up to the closest door and press **(B)Open**.

**[**I can't leave looking like this.**]**

Okay, then! I move to the next door. The screen fades to black. I hear the sound of a shower running and some whistling. After about fifteen seconds, Saverio walks out the door, now wearing the clothes that he was wearing on the title screen, spiky hair included. _Now_ I walk out of the room.

The scene switches to outside of a house. Saverio's house presumably. I get an establishing shot of whats in front of his house: a quaint little town on a hillside overlooking a beach. Saverio looks up at the sky and takes a deep breath.

"You guys finally up?" Someone says offscreen, startling Saverio.

The camera switches over to Saverio's right. On the side of the house is that guy I saw in the intro, adjusting his shoes for whatever reason. He has long silver hair, turquoise green eyes, pale skin, and, interestingly, purple bags under his eyes. In other words, a total shut-in at best. He is dressed in some blue and white sneakers, baggy blue jeans, a black belt, short black gloves, a yellow button shirt with the sleeves rolled _way_ up, and a black tie. He looks... kind of ridiculous, really. I think it's the tie.

"Sorry for startling you, and for coming by early. I've just been really excited lately." the man says. Saverio gives him a dismissive wave.

"Hey, Rosario?" Saverio asks in a worried voice. He then begins to tell the newly dubbed Rosario about his boring dream.

Okay, he wasn't really _telling _him, more like pantomiming his boring dream.

Okay, he wasn't really _pantomiming _it, more like waving his hands in front of him in some odd manner that in no way could express the intricate details of his boring dream.

Despite that, Rosario gives him a shrug and says "That doesn't sound that weird to me. Just typical bad dream stuff."

Saverio gestures desperately.

"I'm sure you're just stressed because we're going to leave soon. Don't dwell on it to much." Rosario says. Of course, any outside viewer (me) knows that that isn't at all true, but he'll just have to find out the hard way. "Anyway, are you guys ready?"

Saverio gestures to the door. "Lets wait for her then."

A fade to black and Saverio and Rosario are leaning against the wall of the house together. Unrelated to this, but I've got to say, this lack of music is getting really unnerving. Someone better start the music back up soon. A second later, the sound of a door opening is heard. The camera switches over to the women, now wearing a white tanktop, a purple miniskirt, white flat boots, yellow fingerless gauntlets, and a necklace with a pendent of a magnifying glass. She gives them a short wave. "Hey, Ros'."

"Kari." Rosario says. They gather together. "So, you guys ready to finish the boat?"

"Yeah!" Saverio says with enthusiasm. Hey, his voice sounds familiar to me.

"As ready as physically possible!" Kari says, throwing her fist up.

Rosario then steps forward. "Well, if we're all so enthusiastic, then how about a race?"

A moment of silence, and then: "Ready, GO!"

They each start running, with Rosario taking the lead. The camera starts shifting upward, until the sun comes on screen. With a large glare effect taking up the view, the title of the area morphs onto the screen.

(Play _"Plok – Beach"_)

**[HILLSIDE]Sorte Island[SAND]**

...Sorte? ...I'll search that later. And thank god there's music now.

The camera shifts down to a large building at the end of the beach. On the front side of the building, there is a concrete ramp going into the water. On the side of the ramp is a dock with a bench on it.

Rosario comes onto the screen, still in the lead, with Saverio and Kari coming up behind him. Rosario touches the door of the building first, appearing a bit exhausted.

**Rosario  
[**"Ha. Figures...I can... still beat you two."**]**

Kari is panting, while Saverio seems to recover from the run just fine.

**Kari  
[**"-Pant- -Pant- We never doubted you, Ros'."**]**

**Rosario  
[**"Still though, here I am catching my breath, and you still hardly break a sweat, Sav'. I don't know where you get the stamina."**]****  
**

He'd better have a lot of stamina, 'cause I don't intend to let him catch his breath anytime soon. I mean, this isn't _Silent Hill_, for gods sake.

Rosario opens the door, and they go into the building. Inside, I find that very same boat from the intro. It looks like its already been completed, other than the fact that its a bleach white, and is hanging on the ceiling by several ropes. Rosario walks over to a pair of big doors and opens them.

**Rosario  
[**"Alright, now lets get this over with and start painting on that finish."**]**

This time, an iris out is used for the scene shift.

(Play _"Treasure Master(NES) – World 1"_)

The next thing I see is Saverio and Rosario painting one side of the boat, Kari probably working on the other side or reading a magazine or whatever. Now the boat has spots of brown on it from the varnish. They're just painting, painting, painting-

**[**I should break the silence.**]**

**[**Talk about the plan.**]**  
Talk about Kari.  
Ask for some advice.

...Advice?

**Rosario  
[**"What, did you forget already? We're going to hop around from island to island until we find the one that Kari came from. Simple."**]**

Sounds like a great plan to me! Seriously though, are you being sarcastic? He turns away from Saverio.

**Rosario  
[**"Though, I have to admit something, now that you've brought it up. I know I sounded pretty confident about it a while ago, but do you think this will be good enough? I mean, its just going by process of elimination, so what if it takes us years to find it?"**]**

Saverio gives a dismissive wave. Rosario gives a nod, even though he wasn't looking at him.

**Rosario  
[**"Yeah, you're probably right. No need to stress about those kinds of things."**]**

They then continue painting.

Another iris out, and Saverio is now painting with Kari, while Rosario is... somewhere else. Hes painting his toenails, I don't know. The boat looks browner than it was a second ago, and there they are just painting away at it.

**[**Maybe I should ask Kari...**]**

**[**...if she remembers anything yet.**]**  
...what she thinks about Ros' plan.  
...if she has any advice.

Seriously dude, what do you want advice for?

**Kari  
[**"You're still curious about that?"**]**

He nods.

**Kari  
[**"Well, I still can't remember anything about before I came here. Sorry."**]**

She turns away from the boat.

**Kari  
[**"But, you know, don't sweat it if it doesn't come back to me later. It'd be nice if I could remember, but even if we never find where I came from, I think I'll be able to accept that. Because even if we don't, I still have you and Ros'."**]**

He nods again.

**Kari  
[**"Yeah, and who knows? Maybe we'll find my old home and it turns out that my parents are evil overlords."**]**

They share a hearty laugh. I don't, because that will probably turn out to be true. They then get back to painting.

Another iris out and the three are standing in front of the boat, now covered in a fresh coat of varnish.

**Rosario  
[**"It's looking pretty good, don't you think?"**]**

They nod, and then Rosario starts toward the door.

**Rosario  
[**"Well, I'm going to go lie down on the roof for a bit. All this varnish is making me feel kinda lightheaded."**]**

Then you probably shouldn't have painted it inside a building now, should you? Kari then turns around too.

**Kari  
[**"I think I'll step out too."**]**

Now that I think about it, shouldn't they have worn more protective clothing if they knew they were going to work with toxic chemicals?

...Oh hey, I have control again. And the music changed back to the normal beach theme from a minute ago. I decide to look at whatever catches my eye in the room.

**[**There's nothing interesting on the workbench.**]**

**[**There's nothing in this closet but tools.**]**

**[**Nothing new on the shelves.**]**

Super! Now lets go outside.

Outside, the sun hangs low in the sky, probably about evening. I looked around the beach for anything interesting. After looking for anything eye-catching, I only end up find a cave with nothing cool in it, some trees that I could climb, and the knowledge that I couldn't go into town. There was not a single damn item to be found. I go back to the workshop to find Kari sitting on the dock, and decide to **(B)Talk** to her.

**Kari  
[**"Hey, Savy. What's up? You feel like sparing?"**]**

**[**"Sure."**]**  
"Not right now."

"Sure." Saverio says. Kari steps up and runs somewhere. A scene transition later (not a fade this time) and Saverio is holding a wooden sword on one side of the dock, with Kari holding a wooden sword and shield on the other side. The music changes to the song from when they were painting.

"Show me what you got!" She says as the battle starts. She walks up to me cautiously, her shield held high in front of her. Figuring that front attacks won't work, I circle around her and try to strike from behind. I get a three hit combo on her, making her stagger back, and I attempt to go for another while shes off guard.

"Nice try!" She says before countering my attack with a hit in the face. I guess I'll have to go slowly. I go behind her again to get another combo in, but as soon as I attack, she does a quick turn on me, dodging with her shield.

This goes on for a few tries, where I attempt to combo her in the back and hope she doesn't turn on me, and also avoid falling off the dock. I eventually figure out that **(B)** is used to block and dodge, and realize that I'm supposed to block her attacks and then hit, and use that strategy to beat her.

"Oh man, I lost this time!" She says upon defeat, with the camera hanging over her like its ashamed. The music switches back and my health is restored after the battle, thankfully. I decide to go look on the roof for Rosario. I find a ladder on the side of the building and climb up it to find him lying on his back on the middle of the roof. **(B)Talk**.

**Rosario  
[**"Hows it going, Sav. You here to keep the sun out of my eyes? Or is it something else?"**]**

**[**"How about a fight?"**]**  
"Just making sure you're not dead from the fumes."

"How about a fight?" Saverio asks. Rosario leaps up of the ground and runs for the side of the roof. A scene transition and the two are facing off against each other, Rosario with a wooden pole in his hands.

"Give up and you might live!" Rosario taunts. Unlike Kari, Rosario decides to just go all out on me, going for a bunch of quick jabs and slashes. I block them successfully and go in for a combo, which he blocks the first time, but the second time manages to connect. Unfortunately, Rosario reels back on the ground and counters with a kick to the chest, knocking me back.

"I hope that's not your best!" Rosario taunts. Of course, I just decide to keep trying the same strategy, except those times, I instead dodge his counters with my slide dodge. I manage to win just barely, and I get a level up for it.

**[Level Up! Saverio] **_~sparkle~_

"Bummer." Rosario simply says, the camera looking down shamefully yet again. My health restored to full again, I decide to go save. I jump down to that bench from earlier and **(B)Sit**. Saverio sits down on the middle of the bench, laying his arms on the back of it.

**[Slot 1]**  
Slot 2

**[File 1] File 2 File 3 File 4**

**There is data already saved on this file. Overwrite?**

**[Yes] No**

**Saving data. Do not remove the memory card(16Mb) or shut off the Gamecube™.**

I wonder what Shauwn is doing right now?

**7/16/2006 4:52 pm  
Chris Melton Lvl.03  
00:39 Sorte Island**

I get another prompt.

**[End the day?]**

**[Yes]  
No**

I guess I'll end the day as is, since there seems to be nothing that I missed before. The screen fades and Rosario and Kari have joined Saverio on the bench, Saverio sitting on the right end, with his left arm on Kari's shoulders, and Rosario on the left side with his arms and legs crossed. The sun is now setting.

"So tomorrow, we're gonna stock up. I figure maybe two weeks worth of food should be enough. If not, we can just fish for more." Rosario says. "And If we don't find any fish, well... we'll be at our first island before we run out of food anyway, and then we can restock."

"You do know where the closest island is, don't you?" Kari asks him incredulously.

"Of course I do! Its only a couple hundred miles away, tops!" Rosario says. She looks at him. "Really! I can even show you the maps I have! I mean, not right now, they're up at my house, but..."

Kari giggle at this. "Calm down, Ros', I'm just teasing. I know you know what you're doing. I trust you."

"Hm... But anyway, putting asides the technical matters of this journey, you don't think we'll come up short at the end of it all, do you? I mean, its you're home we're looking for, after all."

"That's true. We might not find out where I came from or who my biological parents are. But, I think when all is said and done, this place is more 'home' to me than any island I can't even remember."

Saverio gestures to Rosario with his right hand.

"Why am _I_ so invested? Well, you remember, we still have to keep that promise we made back when we were kids."

"...Oh yeah! I remember that." Kari says with realization. "Oh, but, I didn't know that was why you're so interested."

"Well, you know me, I like to keep my promises." Rosario stands up and walks to the edge of the dock. He shuts his eyes while hanging his head down. "And besides that, I was just itching for a little adventure in my life. I mean, working as a boat builder slash island guard around here gets pretty boring for a guy like me, you know?"

"Ros'..." Kari says, worried.

"Anyway, I have to get going. I have to get to my other job soon." Rosario uncrosses his arms and walks away.

"He says he wants an adventure, but I think he needs a vacation." Kari says quietly. She turns to Saverio. "Savy, lets make sure he gets a little relief while we're out on the ocean, okay?"

"Relief"? Really? I think you might want to choose your words more carefully there, Kari, or immature people will think you're a whore. Despite this, Saverio nods.

"We should probably head home now too. We have to get our stuff packed anyway." They get up and start walking back to their house. The scene fades.

* * *

(Play _"Super Mario RPG – Mushroom Kingdom"_)

The scene returns to a very different place from before. It doesn't actually say where it is but I can tell almost immediately. The bright colors, all those Toads walking around, that _music_. It was the Mushroom Kingdom, baby! Right now, it looks very peaceful. Which means something very bad will happen rig-

"AAAAAUUUGGGHHH!" Cries a very agitated Toad. That very Toad (I'll call him Panicky Toad) is running through the road, holding a piece of paper in his hand, and seems very intent on getting to his destination. I mean, he passes by a Toad carrying a bazooka without even a passing glance, he's so intent.

"HEY, DON'T RUN IN THE STREETS, YOU HOOLIGAN!" Bazooka Toad yells, firing a rocket at Panicky Toad for daring to act like a hooligan in the Mushroom Kingdom. The explosion makes a big cloud of debris, but it is quickly revealed that Panicky Toad just runs right goddamn through all that crap, clearly not even stopping for a ballistics-based death.

We eventually make it to that familiar castle with the stained glass mural over the big front doors. A couple of guards stand in front, spears in hand. When they see Panicky Toad running towards the door, they cross their spears over the door.

"Halt! For what reason do you need t-" The guard doesn't finish his sentence, as Panicky Toad blasts through the spears, breaking them in two, and through the door, causing the guards to spin around and fall. They probably didn't die, though they may have wanted to if that meant not having to go through life as another pair of generic failure guards.

Panicky Toad runs through the halls of the castle until he finds his way to the throne room. At the throne is none other other than Princess Peach in all her pink, classic-princess glory, as well as some other Toads. Everyone is startled by Panicky Toad's entrance.

"Oh my, Toad! You look frightened. What happened?" Peach asks as she stands up from her throne and moves forward.

"Princess! Its just terrible!" Panicky Toad says, looking like he's about to cry.

"Yes?"

"Horrible!"

"Yes yes, what is it?"

"Its Mario! And Luigi! They've disappeared! Gone without a trace!"

_~DU-DUN~_

The music stops, and everyone gasps.

"WHAT! Are you sure?"

"Positive! They even left a note saying so."

Okay, that's not "without a trace", Panicky Toad. Get it together!

"Let me see." Peach swipes the note from his hand and quickly reads through it. Her face grows darker as she reads, until she finally responds. "Alright, we're in a crisis, but we don't need to panic yet. Go and alert everyone that Mario and Luigi have gone missing. And I do mean _everyone_. GO!"

Every Toad in the room runs out, leaving Peach to herself. She walks to the large window in the room and looks out. She takes one last look at the note before she lets her hand back down.

"Mario. Luigi. What in the world is going on?"

* * *

Okay, that took forever to write. Sorry.

So, Mario and Luigi have gone missing. Does it have any connection to our three islanders? Who am I kidding, _of course it does._

Anyway, 'til next time, be sure to review, but please make sure to spell correctly. Later.

**Wordcount: 3,814  
Submitted: 4/2/11**


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